


Your Turn Shall Come

by revolutionarykoala



Category: One Piece
Genre: (if I think of any hahaha), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Carrot Centric, Gen, In that I try to get into Carrot's mindset in a little over 2000 words, Introspection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Subtle hints of Author loving Luffy. Very Subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23391844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revolutionarykoala/pseuds/revolutionarykoala
Summary: Carrot struggles with her decision of leaving the Musketeers and the Guardians to die.Or, my interpretation as to why we never saw Carrot as part of the injured on Zou.
Relationships: Carrot (One Piece) & Wanda (One Piece), Monkey D. Luffy & Carrot (One Piece)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Your Turn Shall Come

She fled.

She didn’t want to, every part of her wanted to stay and grab her friends and comrades and rush them to safety. A larger part of her wanted to rush the Beast Pirates instead, cut them all down where they stood as they laughed and jeered at the convulsing bodies before them. She wanted so badly, her claws drew blood from where they’d clenched into fists. Time was running out, she had to decide.

And yet...

She knew what Wanda would suggest, what Pedro would demand, the choice everyone would want her to make. If it was between all the warriors that had already been taken down, or Raizou, safe in the Whale Tree and bellowing for answers no one could afford to give him? Between those that had fallen, or the civilians whose only crime was potentially being in the way, and now far greater targets for the bloodthirsty Beast Pirates?

_“Everyone has their turn. Carrot, one day yourgara turn shall come too.”_

It wasn’t a choice at all.

And so, turning her back on her dying friends, Carrot fled.

* * *

She'd been coming back from her final check around the perimeters, making sure there weren’t any Beast Pirate stragglers trying to sneak past the battlefield to attack the civilians (there’d been a couple, there always were, but she quickly dealt with them the way she always did), when she smelt it.

Gas.

The source of which was soon made clear, as a rolling cloud of purple mist raced towards her.  
There wasn’t any time to think, she could only turn tail and bound away as quickly as she could. She'd never seen anything like it on Zou before, and wasn't taking any chances.

Her speed was to her advantage, she managed to keep pace ahead of the gas and soon it began to disperse, before it could reach the edges of the Mokomo Dukedom, before it could reach the rest of its citizens.

It was only after that moment of panic had subsided and she’d checked on all the civilians to be certain they were safe that she was able to think clearly and realise what this had meant for those out there still fighting. Was it a suicide attack? Had the current wave of Beast Pirates decided to take everyone down with them? Or was it more premeditated? How long had they been sitting on this weapon, waiting for the moment to strike?

She faced the fog and took a fortifying breath, unwilling to risk whatever the gas was reaching her lungs, and immediately bounded straight into the heart of it. She had to help the others, as a warrior, as a Kingsbird, and as a friend.

Even with impaired vision, Carrot knew this forest. Knew every tree, every nook, every crease of Zunisha’s skin. It didn’t take long for her to make her way to the epicentre of the city, where the fighting had been the worst. Carrot swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling thick. But once her eyes adjusted and she peered from behind the tree she was hiding on, she suddenly found herself wishing for the blindness of just a few moments ago.

* * *

_“Yourgara turn shall come too.”_

Turning her back on her dying friends, Carrot fled.

* * *

She was both thankful and resentful of her position as Kingsbird those couple of days, as it fell to her to keep the terrified non combatants away from the battlefield, of charging a desperate suicide attempt to save their loved ones. She couldn't allow herself the option of going in their place, for several reasons.

The first was that no matter how much they begrudged her and screamed and cried in those moments, she couldn't let anyone pass her lest they wanted to be crucified as well. The Beast Pirates had already proven they didn’t care about differentiating between warriors and civilians, with the gas still hanging around (she knew, she had been checking daily to see if there was anything she could do to help but every time Carrot looked the situation had worsened, and Carrot found herself almost missing the screams over the frigid silence and once Carrot found herself thinking that her bit so hard into her lip she bled.)

The second was that with Duke Inuarashi and Nekomamushi down for the count and Wanda also… incapacitated _-she’s not dead, none of them are dead Carrot had to believe it or else she’ll-_ , the role of taking care of everyone fell to her. She wanted to go rescue them just as badly, but someone needed to take care of the civilians, to help ration the food they had left. Zunisha had stopped with the twice-daily showers the day the gas spread throughout the country. Perhaps Zunisha knew that there was a greater chance of simply drowning the Minks, than there was ridding themselves of the Beast Pirates. Unfortunately it also meant that supplies were at risk of running out without the continual refurbishment from Zunisha.

(A part of Carrot hated herself for even considering something like supplies, when her friends were being tortured to death just out of reach. Had she already given up on them? Had she come to accept none of them, not Duke Inuarashi nor Master Nekomamushi nor Wanda nor Pedro were ever coming back? All because she was too much of a coward to try and save them all herself?)

_“Yourgara turn shall come too.”_

And that led to her third secret, the secret she’d keep til her grave; she was terrified. Growing up on Zou had taught her strength and agility and Electro and _power_ , and the battle against the Beast Pirates had certainly hadn’t done much to dissuade her of that feeling, but as it turned out, living on one small island your entire life led to several disadvantages, the biggest being inexperience. She and her family found themselves completely outmatched by the pirates because they hadn't considered the idea that they'd play dirty. And now the musketeers and guardians both were paying their price for their oversight.

Carrot had always been proud of her prowess in battle, but against enemies like these…

_“Yourgara turn shall come too.”_

Her fist had slammed against a tree at that moment, startling several people nearby. They looked around anxiously but Carrot didn’t bother to assuage their fears of someone overhearing them. She’d never been so on edge in her life and as a result, she felt she was hearing and seeing more than she’d ever thought possible. Every rustling leaf, every whine from the wind, even Zunisha himself, there’d been several times where Carrot had buckled over from the grief she could feel from their benefactor.

So needless to say, Carrot wasn’t in the best mood. She’d never felt so immature and inexperienced in her life. Even when she’d made Kingsbird at such a young age, there’d always been someone supporting her, Duke Inuarashi and Wanda during the day, Master Nekomamushi and Pedro during the night. There’d been someone to smooth over any ruffled feathers, to support her when she felt inadequate. And yet, she’d been so proud of herself, of how far she’d come from the little orphan bunny with too much energy and nowhere to put it.

What a joke.

The day the Beast Pirates left wasn’t a day for celebration, not for Carrot. Not when the gas still lingered, not when there were Beast Pirates left behind to hunt down survivors, not when every part of her ached to save her friends when she knew she couldn’t not until she’d hunted down the remaining Beast Pirates in turn.

And then came renewed screaming and crying from the city and her feet were moving faster than her mind could, speeding towards the sound of Wanda’s voice _(Wanda was alive, she was **alive** , her mother-figure and sister-figure all in one, she was still here)_ and gauntlets already sparking with Electro. If it was another wave of Beast Pirates Carrot knew. She knew this time she’d leap right into the middle of it all, she’d take the gas and the poison and the torture over keeping her distance. Carrot couldn’t do it again, she knew she wasn’t strong enough to turn away again. Once had nearly killed her, she’d rather die with Wanda and Pedro and the Duke and Master and all of her friends, then live on without them.

But it wasn’t the Beast Pirates at all, but the Straw Hat Pirates. They’d come along and helped to save her decimated country, asked for nothing in return but for them all to be healthy and safe. She watched as the gas dispersed, as air came in shuddering intervals into the lungs of the Musketeers and the Guardians, as more and more civilians popped their heads out of where they’d all been hiding, rushing out to help the Straw Hats with their mission. Her legs inch forward out of their own volition, then suddenly Carrot was sprinting, desperate to help in whatever way she could after all those days of helplessness.

As she watched the tears and cheers and gratitude being rained upon the Straw Hats and Cedar, Carrot had needed a moment by herself to cry. Thankful beyond words to the Straw Hats for doing what she couldn't, and knowing she’d hate herself for not even trying. It didn’t matter that the gas would’ve taken her immediately, that she had nothing to protect herself with or that she had nothing to disperse the gas. At the end of the day, she’d failed to protect those she cared about the most and that was something that could never be forgiven.

Once everyone was well again, and the other half of the Straw Hats had arrived on Zou (with their Captain Monkey D. Luffy bounding ahead, a smile shining so bright she could barely force herself to look, and yet to look away felt like sacrilege of the highest level), Duke Inuarashi finally found out how Carrot had been in charge, of the way she’d sacrificed them all for the sake of Raizou and the civilians, and Carrot could only stare at him, afraid of what he’d think.

But Duke Inuarashi only smiled at her, laying a gentle hand upon her head.

“Yougara made the right choice.” There was nothing but pride in his eyes, and as Wanda and Pedro congratulated her for keeping her cool, Carrot could only laugh and wave away their thanks joking about how she was now an adult as the others smiled fondly. She pretended she couldn’t feel the way her stomach had suddenly turned to lead.

She was a coward, and was even more of a coward for the way she was grateful no one seemed to realise.

_“Yourgara turn shall come too.”_

* * *

It was then that Straw Hat Luffy, still shining so brightly, announced his intention to sneak into Whole Cake Island to save Sanji, Zou’s saviour. And immediately Carrot knew what she had to do.

This was an opportunity for penance (not that anyone else felt that way because they were so kind to her, they always had been but it filled Carrot with self-hatred whenever the other Minks turned their loving eyes on her. She didn’t deserve it, didn’t they see how badly she failed them?), one that she wasn’t willing to waste. She’d help save Sanji at any cost, it was the least she could do after he’d done so much for her, for her people, for her country.

(But she couldn’t quite ignore the part of her that knew she was doing this for more than just guilt, for more than just seeking for penance. It was the part of her that jumped into the air everyday to take in the sea, to see how far the horizon would stretch, wondering what could possibly lay beyond the edge of her world.)

* * *

_“Yourgara turn shall come too.”_

Gripping her bag even tighter and with a quick goodbye to a tearful Bariete, she leapt off the Zunisha and straight down to where she knew the Straw Hats had docked their ship.

Her turn will come.

She’d make sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> YoUrGaRa TuRn ShAlL cOmE tOo.
> 
> And then Pedro dies lmao.
> 
> I've been sitting on this for a while, but finally got around to cleaning it up and posting hahahhaa. Tell me what you think, I'd love to hear your thoughts! :D


End file.
